Ogun students stage protest over lecturers' unpaid 14-month salaries

The Oke Ilewo, Abeokuta secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, was on Wednesday stormed by scores of students of the Tai Solarin College of Education, Omu Ijebu, Ogun State, who were there to protest against the non-payment of 14-month salaries of their lecturers.

The students, arrived the secretariat in three buses, armed with placards bearing various inscriptions such as, ĎAmosun

save TASCE from extinction,' 'Lectures are not going on in TASCE,' ĎAmosun restore education at TASCE' and ĎPlease, students are suffering in TASCE.'

Led by the Ogun State Chairman, National Association of Nigerian Students, Dotun Opaleye, and the President, Students' Union Government, TASCE, Dairo Ibrahim, the students argued that the State Government had neglected the institution, leaving the students to suffer.

They claimed that their repeated appeal to Governor Ibikunle Amosun to come to their aid, had not yielded any positive result.

They gave the governor a 48-hour ultimatum to attend to their demands or they would be forced to occupy his office at Oke Mosan, Abeokuta.

The students lamented the fact that their lecturers now resort to finding other means to provide for their families and have thus abandoned classes.

"Some of them now drive Keke Marwa, while some of them sell water melons to fend for their families,"Ě one of the students said, as he brandished his placard in front of journalists.

They also refuted Governor Amosun's Democracy Day claim that the institution had about 3,000 lecturers and 1,500 students; stating that academic and non-academic staff were 384, while the number of students was about 3,000.

Opaleye, who also spoke for the students said, "We kept paying school fees assiduously and we are given skeletal services. We have made so many appeals and all these appeals have fallen on deaf ears.

"We know that the Governor has been misled by unscrupulous elements. We are giving the state government 48 hours to address the issues else we are going to storm and occupy the Governor's Office and close it down till our demands are met."Ě

The SUG president of the institution, on his own part, explained that currently lectures were not going on in TASCE , noting that if the Governor did not come to their aid, there might be mass failure among the students.